Method of automatically changing winding tubes and winding apparatus for implementing the aforesaid method and improved spool doffing mechanism

ABSTRACT

A method of and apparatus for automatically changing tubes seated upon tube clamping mandrels and wherein each tube, through rotation of a member carrying the tube clamping mandrels, is alternately brought out of a position in contact with a friction drive drum for the purpose of taking-up an endless thread delivered at a high speed and after reaching the desired package size thereon the tube with its package is brought into a package doffing position. A gripper is rocked out of a rest position essentially perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel carrying the tube with the package wound thereon, and the package and its tube are engaged by means of the gripper. Then the engaged package and its tube are withdrawn from the tube clamping mandrel by moving the gripper in a direction away from the tube clamping mandrel and essentially parallelly with respect to the axial direction of the tube clamping mandrel into a predetermined position, and thereafter the package and its tube are released by carrying out an opposite rocking movement of the gripper.

United States Patent Wiist 1 Nov. 25, 1975 [54] METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY3,532,278 10 1970 Sparling 242/18 A CHANGING WINDING TUBES AND 3,559,9022/1971 Brock 242/18 A 3,682,403 8/1972 Willis 242/18 A WINDING APPARATUSFOR 3,693,897 9/1972 Davidson 242/18 R IMPLEMENTING THE AFORESAID3,791,123 2/1974 Kawauchi 57/52 METHOD AND IMPROVED SPOOL 3,801,030 41974 Kobatake et al 242/18 A DOFFING MECHANISM Inventor: Olivier Wiist,Seuzach, Switzerland Rieter Machine Works, Ltd., Winterthur, SwitzerlandFiled: Mar. 20, 1974 Appl. No.: 453,172

Related U.S. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 350,793, April 13,1973, Pat. No. 3,856,222, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.76,181, Sept. 28, 1970, abandoned,

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 3, 1969 Switzerland 15021/69 Jan.22, 1973 Switzerland 854/73 Feb. 2, 1973 Switzerland 1547/73 ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS Nuissl 242/18 A Pospisil et a1 242/18 APrimary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or FirmWerner W.Kleeman [57] ABSTRACT A method of and apparatus for automaticallychanging tubes seated upon tube clamping mandrels and wherein each tube,through rotation of a member carrying the tube clamping mandrels, isalternately brought out of a position in contact with a friction drivedrum for the purpose of taking-up an endless thread delivered at a highspeed and after reaching the desired package size thereon the tube withits package is brought into a package doffing position. A gripper isrocked out of a rest position essentially perpendicular to the axialdirection of the tube clamping mandrel carrying the tube with thepackage wound thereon, and the package and its tube are engaged by meansof the gripper. Then the engaged package and its tube are withdrawn fromthe tube clamping mandrel by moving the gripper in a direction away fromthe tube clamping mandrel and essentially parallelly with respect to theaxial direction of the tube clamping mandrel into a predeterminedposition. and thereafter the package and its tube are released bycarrying out an opposite rocking movement of the gripper.

10 Claims, 28 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 1 of 15 USPatent Nov.2'5, 1975 Sheet2of 15 3,921,922

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet3of 15 3,921,922

Q3 2 ca fig US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet50f15 3,921,922

Fig. 77

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet6of 15 3,921,922

US. Patent N0v.25, 1975 Sheet8of 15 3,921,922

Fig. 16

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet90fl5 3,921,922

U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 10 of 15 3,921,922

Fig. 21a A US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 11 0f 15 3,921,922

U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 13 of 15 3,921,922

U.S. Pat6nt Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 14 of 15 3,921,922

Patent Nov. 25, 1975 METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY CHANGING WINDING TUBES ANDWINDING APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE AFORESAID METHOD AND IMPROVEDSPOOL DOFFING MECHANISM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED CASE This is adivisional application of my commonly assigned copending U.S.application Ser. No. 350,793, filed Apr. 13, 1973, now U.S. Pat. No.3,856,222, granted Dec. 24, 1974, and entitled Method Of AutomaticallyChanging Winding Tubes And Winding Apparatus for Implementing TheAforesaid Method And Improved Spool Doffing Mechanism which, in turn, isa continuation-in-part application of my commonly assigned U.S.application Ser. No. 76,181, filed Sept. 28, 1970, now abandoned, andentitled Method Of Automatically Changing Winding Tubes And WindingApparatus For Implementing The Aforesaid Method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvedmethod of automatically changing tubes taking up endless filaments andfurther pertains to an improved winding apparatus for implementing theaforesaid method. The method techniques and apparatus structure of theinvention are especially suitable for use in spindrawwinding in theman-made or synthetic fiber manufacturing industry. The invention alsois concerned with an improved construction of spool doffing mechanism.

The prior art is already acquainted with the technique of lifting thefull wound package-off the drive drum for the purpose of changing thespool and to automatically pivot an arm supporting two spools. With thisprocedure the empty tube or sleeve is placed in rotation by manuallypressing it against the friction drive drum for a short period of time,then lifting it off again for a short period of time, so that the threador yarn can be manually wrapped several times around the empty tube. Thewinding process is thereupon started by again placing the empty tubeonto the friction drive drum and by simultaneously threading thetraversing thread guide, whereupon the connecting thread to the fullpackage is torn off.

This technique possesses the notable drawback that automatic operationis not possible, resulting in operational difficulties at highprocessing speeds, inasmuch a manual operations can be no longerattained with sufficient precision and speed. A further disadvantage isthat during the acceleration or speed-up time of the empty tube the fullpackage must be already lifted off the friction drive drum, so thatduring a relatively long time interval thread is taken up by theundriven package, the speed of rotation of which decreases. As a result,the tension in the thread or yarn up to the location of theabove-situated delivery element sharply decreases, greatly increasingthe danger of lap formation at the delivery'elernent. This phenomenon isparticularly pronounced in the event a spool change operation must beeffectedfor any reason during theinitial stage of the package formation,during which time the inertia of the package is still extremely small. Astill further disadvantage is that as the thread is u n'threaded fromthe traversing guide, which occurs immediately after lifting thepackage, the thread tension considerably drops and cannot becompensated. Furthermore, this device does not permit formation of athread reserve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hence, there is a real need in the art for animproved technique of automatically changing the winding tubes as wellas for improved winding apparatus for implementing such technique ormethod without encountering the aforementioned drawbacks of. the priorart. With this in mind a primary objective of the present in-, ventionis to provide an improved method of changing winding tubes and animproved winding apparatus for this purpose which effectively fulfillsthe existing need and is not associated with the aforementioneddrawbacks prevailing in the state-of-the-art.

Another essential objective of the present invention not onlyconstitutes the effective elimination of the aforementioned drawbacks ofthe prior art techniques and apparatus structure, but additionally aimsat fully automating the process of spool change while at the same timeachieving thread transfer from a full package to an empty tube held inreadiness without generating any thread waste and while maintaining thenormal winding speeds.

Still a further objective of the present invention is to realize a spoolchange operation in such manner that the still traversing thread or yarncontacting the friction drive drum does not cause the formation ofirregular or otherwise disturbing layers at the full package, nor causedamage to the thread, nor cause the formation of bulges at the fullpackage due to prolonged winding without traversing the thread.

Another object of this invention is to control the contact pressure ofthe full wound package against the friction drive drum during the spoolchange operation up to the moment of lifting off such package from thefriction drive drum, in other words, to maintain the contact pressure asconstant as possible.

In connection with the last-stated object of the invention a furtherobjective of the present invention is to compensate changes in threadtension during the spool change operation by appropriately selecting themagnitude of the circumferential speeds of the thread guiding elements.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a spool doffingmechanism which is of relatively simple construction and design yetextremely efficient and reliable in operation.

Now, in order to implement these and still-further objects of theinvention, which will become more readily apparent as the descriptionproceeds, the method for automatically changing two tubes each placed ona mandrel arranged on an arm movable parallel to its axis and rotatablesuch that such tubes alternatingly contact a friction drive drum fortaking up in a winding device an endless thread delivered at high speed,is achieved by undertaking the steps of rolling the full package woundonto the tube, as the desired package size is reached, along thefriction drum in the sense of an extension of the thread path on thisdrive drum until the empty tube is accelerated by the friction drivedrum due to contact of such empty tube with the friction drive drum.Then the full package is lifted off the drive drum, thread still beingwound onto this full package owing to the inertia of the full package.The thread passing from the friction drive drum to the full packagewhich has been lifted off the drive drum and which thread in themeantime has been unthreaded from the traversing guide, is deflectedthrough a rotating catching zone of the mandrel supporting the emptytube. The

3 connecting thread betweenthe full package and the empty tube issubsequently severed byt he rotating catching zone, and a number ofreserve wraps are placed upon the empty tube by axially moving the tubeinto its normal winding position while rolling the tube along thefriction drive drum.

The just-explained method aspects of the invention are successfullyachieved through the use of a winding apparatus of the inventionincorporating a friction drive drum for driving two tubes which arealternatingly brought into contact with such friction drive drum. Thesetubes are each placed upon a respective mandrel which can be braked anddetached and which by means of a rotatableand arrestable arm can berotated through 180 in each instance into the spooland the tube changeposition, respectively. Furthermore. means are provided for generatingand transmitting a contact pressure to the supporting arm in such amanner that the mandrels are supported so as to be axially movable atthe supporting arm and this axial movement is determined by themomentary position of the supporting arm. I

The invention also deals with a method of, and appa ratus for, theautomatic doffing or changing of a tube seated upon one of the mandrelswhich contemplates engaging a full tube defining a package by means of agripper rocked towards the full tube out of a rest position and in adirection essentially perpendicular to the axial direction of themandrel into a package change position. withdrawing the package from themandrel by carrying out a movement of the gripper away from the mandreland essentially parallel with respect to the axial direction of themandrel until reaching a predetermined. position, and thereafterreleasing the package by carrying out an opposite pivotal movement ofthe grip per. 1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be betterunderstood and objects other than those set forth above will becomeapparent when consideration is given to the following detaileddescription thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexeddrawings wherein: 1

FIG. '1 is a side or elevational view of the tube change apparatus ofthe invention in normal winding position;

FIG. 2 is a topplan view, partly in section, of the apparatus of FIG. 1,showing the position of the structural components thereof immediatelybefore thread transfer occurs;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a detail of the thread catchingzone of the mandrel;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating details of the thread catchingzone of the mandrel;

FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram of an electropneumatic control ofthe inventive winding apparatus;

FIG. 6 is an electrical circuit diagram ofthe inventive windingapparatus;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating the position of the tubes in thethread severing position;

FIG. 8 is a schematic elevational view, partly in crosssection, showingdetails of a possible construction of spool doffin g mechanism for usewith the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing details of a portion of the spooldoffing mechanism of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the spool doffing mechanismdepicted in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a further embodiment of spool doffingmechanism with the full spool or tube still located upon the mandrel;

.FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the mechanism of i 2 FIG. 11 takensubstantially along the line II thereof; FIG. 13 is a schematicelevational viewof the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 11;. 7 FIG. 14 isa cross-sectional view showing a the spool doffing mechanism of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a pneumatic circuit diagram of the control i for the spooldoffing mechanism of FIG. 11;

FIG. 16 is an electrical circuit diagram of the contro for the spooldoffing mechanism of FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a variant operation of the arrangement ofFIG. 7 depicting application of the full bobbin and the empty tube atthe friction drum;

FIG. 17a is a schematic illustration of the construction of FIG. 17showing contact of the full spool at the I friction drum and approachingcontact of the empty,

tube at such friction drum;

FIG. 18 is a modified electrical circuit diagram for;

the winding apparatus;

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram of a modified electro- I if pneumaticcontrol for the winding apparatus;

FIG. 20 is a schematic representation of the course of movement of thecam disk through i FIG. 21 is an elevational view of the rotating mechanism for the arm in a semi-schematic illustration in a I position inwhich the full spool or bobbin is located position D of FIGS. 17 and17a,-

FIG. 2lais a fragmentary view of the rotating mecha- I i nism depictedin FIG. '21 in a position where the full spool is located at position Aof FIGS. l7-and 17a;

FIG. 22 is a plan view of the rotating mechanism=de picted in FIG. 21;FIG. 23 is a pneumatic circuit diagram wherein the position of therotating mechanism corresponds to that i 7 shown in FIG. 21a; I

FIG. 24 is a schematic illustration of the disk which is I part of therotating mechanism andiin a position where the full spool is located atposition B of FIG. 17a;

FIG. 25 illustrates a portion of the pneumatic circuit diagram depictedin FIG. 23 with the disk which is part of the rotating mechanism in aposition in which the full spool is located at position C of FIG. 17;and

FIG. 26 is an electrical circuit diagram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THEPREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Describing now thedrawings and, in particular, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating apreferredembodiment of inventive winding apparatus, it will be seen thatsuch comprises a platform 4 which is slidably arranged upon rollerbearings 3 at the parallely extending horizontal rail members 1 and '2fixed to the machine frame F. Platform member 4 supports a rotatableshaft 5 capable of being rotated in counterclockwise direction i throughthe action of a gear 6 and a meshing gear rack 7. When the gear 6 isdriven in clockwise direction it rotates without transmitting itsrotational movement owing to the action of a free-wheeling clutch 8,best recognized by referring to FIG. 2. An arm member 9 is rigidlyconnected with the rotatable shaft 5. Further, an

detail of s and down by cylinder 13 arranged upon platform 4. The entirearrangement just-described constitutes the revolving or rotatingmechanism for rotating the arm 9.

A further arm member 14 is likewise rigidly connected to the shaft 5.During such time as the shaft 5 is rotated this arm 14 progressivelydisplaces or pushes a suitably shaped dampening or damping lever 15,pivotably mounted at the platform 4, towards the outside and against theresistance of a piston member 16 slidably arranged within an oil-filledcylinder 17. As a result, the arm member 9 is braked during such time asthe cylinder 13 is activated, that is, this arm is indirectly connectedwith a dampening device 15, 16, 17, which, depending upon the positionof such arm, prevents it from rotating too fast.

As best observed by referring to FIG. 2, mandrels 18 and 19 are seatedupon the ends of the arm 9, these mandrels 18 and 19 serving to receivetubes or sleeves 20 and 20, respectively, onto which there is wound thethread package or spool 21. These mandrels 18 and 19 can bepneumatically loosened and braked and in their loosened or releasedposition are provided with a piston member 22 protruding at the free endof the loosened mandrel, as indicated in FIG. 2 for the mandrel 19.Mechanisl suitable for this purpose is well known to those versed in theart, as evidenced for instance from the apparatus structure of SwissPat. No. 443,993, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,781 of theassignee of this application, and also assignees further US. Pat. No.3,554,455, incorporated herein by reference, so that further descriptionthereof can be dispensed with. The piston member 22 activates a terminalor contacting switch 23 which, in turn, activates the package and tubechange mechanism to be described in greater detail hereinafter inconjunction with FIGS. 6 and 8-10.

Furthermore, these mandrels 18 and 19 are each supported so as to beaxially slidable in a respective bore 24 of the arm member 9, thesebores 24 being configured and dimensioned to provide a sliding fit. Thementioned axial movement or displacement is undertaken through theaction of a ring-shaped cam 25 provided with grooves 26 into whichextend appropriate extensions 27 provided at the mandrels 18, 19. Duringrotation of the shaft member 5 there is thus performed a predeterminedaxial movement of the mandrels 18 and 19. The platform member 4 issimilarly displaced along the rails 1 and 2 through the action of asuitable pistoncylinder drive arrangement. The cylinder 28 thereof ispartitioned so as to provide both a pneumatic work cylinder 28' and anoilfilled dampening cylinder 29. Work cylinder 28 may be convenientlyoperated through the provision of ducts or conduits 30 and 31communicating with opposite faces of the piston 32a slidably arrangedwith work cylinder 28. Furthermore, within the oilfilled cylinder 29there is mounted upon the piston rod 32 a further piston or disk 33,this piston or disk permitting, by means of non-illustrated suitablevalves, oil to only pass to a limited extent, thereby dampening themovement of the piston rod 32. Moreover, these valves are selected suchthat they permit a greater passage or throughflow of oil during suchtime as the platform 4 moves towards the outside, resulting in outwardplatform movement being faster than inward platform movement. Thedampening cylinder 29 is additionally advantageously employed forslowing down the almost impact-like movement of the piston rod 32brought about by the pneumatic system and further serves to suppressvibrations which may be brought about through untrue or eccentricmovement of the package 21 contacting the friction drive drum 34. Thepackage 21 which is to be wound contacts the friction drive drum 34 witha predetermined contact pressure when the platform 4 is displacedtowards the right of FIG. 1 through the action of the piston rod 32.Additionally, the winding apparatus of the invention possesses a threadtraversing guide arrangement 35 which horizontally traverses back andforth a thread guide 36 through a traverse distance or stroke H alongthe friction drive drum 34.

Inasmuch as the drive mechanism for the thread traversing guidearrangement 35 and the friction drive drum 34 is conventional, and manydifferent systems suitable for the purposes of the invention are alreadypart of the prior art, any further description thereof can be dispensedwith, particularly since such details are not important forunderstanding the underlying concepts of the invention. What is howeverworthy of mention in this context is that the friction drive drum 34 isprovided with an acceleration or entrainment rim 37, the diameter ofwhich exceeds the diameter of the drive drum 34 by about 1 to 3 percent.This acceleration rim 37 serves to contact and accelerate the tube 20'to a speed above the circumferential speed of the thread contactingsurface 34 during such time as the tube is moved out or displaced intoits thread transfer position. Additionally, an abrasion-resistant rod 39provided with a lateral notch 38 as best observed by referring to FIG.2, is arranged in the converging space or area formed by the frictiondrive drum 34 and the thread transversing guide arrangement 35, thementioned notch 38 being located within the region of the traversedistance H, as shown.

In the same area there is pivotably arranged above the rod 39 a furtherrod member 40. Rod member 40 possesses good thread sliding propertiesand can be tilted from a rest position into a pivoted or thread transferposition shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1. Cams 42 to 46 are furthermoreprovided upon the shaft member 5, each such cam operating a terminal orcontact switch 47 through 51, respectively, utilized for the control ofthe operation of the individual elements during spool change.

Continuing, it will be understood that the thread catching zone 52,shown in particular detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, and provided on themandrels 18 and 19 is equipped with a tightly fitting steel ring 53. Theoutside diameter of this steel ring 53 is slightly less than thediameter of the tube 20, so that there is avoided damage to the frictiondrive drum 34 and the somewhat higher rotational speed of the tube iscompensated. Ring member 53 under consideration is provided with asurface 54 which is conically inclined towards the inside, leaving aclearance of about 0.05 to 0.1 mm. towards the face 55 of the tube 20placed upon the associated mandrel. Uniformly distributed along thecircumference of this conical surface 54 are the teeth 56 which areinclined towards the tube face 55 and provided with a sharp inside edge.The clearance between the teeth 56 and the confronting tube face orsurface 55 is sufficiently large to enable the thread to enter.

The circuit diagram of FIG. 5 for the electropneumatic controlarrangement depicts the valves in their positions during the normalwinding operation when building up the thread package, and this controlarrangement is constructed and designed to operate as follows:

A pressure limiting valve 58 is supplied with air at a pressure p, froma non-illustrated compressed air source, delivering such pressurized airat a pressure 2, via a conduit or duct 59 to an electromagnetic valve60. Electromagnetic valve 60 in turn is flow connected via a furtherduct or conduit 61, an electromagnetic valve 62,a blocking or stop-valve63 closed at the pressure p, but opened at a higher pressure p with thecylinder 11 of the previously discussed arresting pin member 10. In thedescription to follow all of the electromagnetic valves will beconveniently briefly referred to as simply valves. A conduit or duct 64communicates in flow relationship a valve 65 with the heretoforediscussed cylinder 13 of the likewise heretofore discussed revolving orrotating mechanism serving to rotate the arm member 9. Furthermore,cylinder 13 is equipped with a pressure sensor 66 which responds uponattaining the pressure p in the cylinder 13 and closes the electricalcircuit of FIG. 6 which will be more fully discussed shortlyhereinafter. Incidentally, the pressure sensor 66 has been illustratedin the electrical circuitry diagram of FIG. 6 for purposes of clarity.Continuing, valve 60 is operated through the agency of a furtherpressure limiting valve 67 serving to reduce the pressure p, to thepressure value p which, however, is higher than the pressure 1,. By thesame token, valve 68 receives air at a pressure p by means of theconduit or duct 69. A further conduit 70 communicating with the valve 68delivers air to a conduit 71 and to a conduit 72 for the purpose ofpneumatically loosening the tube and braking the mandrels l8 and 19,respectively. Although not specifically illustrated in the drawings, thechamber 72" appearing in FIG. 2 isfurnished with pressurized air via theduct 72 which communicates by means of the channel or throughpassageopening 72" with the interiorof the mandrel 19, shown just located inits changing position for the full package 21. The supply of pressurizedor compressed air to the other mandrel 18 on which there is placed theempty tube is stopped or blocked. A conduit 73 branches off of theconduit 59 and communicates with a valve 74. Valve 74 is connected viathe conduit 75 with the cylinder-piston arrangement 41 serving to tiltor pivot the rod member 40. Furthermore, duct or conduit 70 additionallysupplies valves 76 and 77, and through the agency of the furtherconduits 78 and 79, respectively, delivers fluid medium to the cylinder80 of a spool doffing or changing mechanism shown schematically by wayof example in FIG. 6 and in greater detail in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10. Thisspool doffing or change mechanism embodies a displaceable and pivotablespool and tube gripping element 81, which can be outwardly displacedthrough the action of the cylinder 80, this gripping element serving towithdraw the full package 21 off the mandrel 19 (FIGS. 6 and 8) andsubsequently pushing an empty tube held in preparedness onto suchmandrel 19. As best seen by referring to FIGS. 8 to the tube grippingelement 81 possesses for such purposes the shoes or segments 150equipped with a lever which can be deflected against spring pressure,and which allows for the introduction and application of the tubegripping element 81 against the ends of the tube. The cylinder 80accommodates the piston 152 which is equipped with a cam follower 153engaging with a guide groove or cam 154, cam follower 153 being guidedby guide groove or cam 154. The guide groove 154 is curved at its endsasshown in order to bring about the previously explained pivoting orrocking movement of the tube gripping element 81.

The electrical circuitry employed in the winding apparatus of thepresent invention will now bedescribed J in conjunction with theillustration of FIG. 6. A switch I 82, initiating the spool changeoperation and activated manually or automatically as a function ofanother parameter, such as for instance package size, thread lengthtaken-up or winding time, is electrically connected via a pre-settabletiming relay 83 with the heretofore discussed valve 65. As also shown inFIG. 6 this switch 82 is likewise directly connected with the valve 60.Furthermore, the terminal switches 47 to 51 are 1 each connected withone of the valves 74, 60, 68, 62, 65. The position of the cams 42 to 46depicted in FIG. 6 corresponds to the position assumed by the shaftmember 5 at the start of its rotation through the action of the gearrack 7. The pressure sensing means or sen-.

sor 66 is operatively connected with the valve 62. The

limit or terminal switch 84 controls operation of the valves 77 and 68,whereas the terminal or limit switch ii 23 acts upon valve 76. Theterminal or limit switch 85 A is activated when the gripping element 81moves outv wards and through the agency of the timing relay 86 switchesthe valve 77. In the circuit diagram of FIG. 6, all of the electricalconnections used for the switching operations starting from theoperating position are shown in full or solid lines, whereas theelectrical connections employed for resetting are indicated with Mo kenor phantom lines.

Having now had the benefit of. the foregoing descrip- I 7 tion of theinventive winding apparatus its operation, now will be considered and isas follows:

A. Normal Operation The endless thread 87 (FIG. 1) delivered by aconventional non-illustrated drawing arrangement, and

which may be a single thread or a strand consisting of single threads,is delivered at high speed, approximately 3,000 meters per minute, andafter having been traversed by the thread guide 36 of thethreadtraversing guide arrangement 35 arrives at the friction drive drum34. From this location such thread is payed-up onto the package 21.During the winding operation the package diameter increases in the usualfashion to a maximum diameter, corresponding to the desired packageweight. By virtue of the increasing package diame-.

ter the arrested arm member 9 together with the platform 4 moves outparallel into the position indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 1 andagainst the contact pres sure transmitted by the piston rod 32. e A

B. Spool Change The spool change operation is undertaken as follows: Asthe desired package weight is reached, the switch 82 is closed. Closingof this switch 82 causes switch-over of valve 60 to the higher pressurep and via the conduit.

61 and the further valve 63 the arresting pin 10 is' rethe frictiondrive drum 34 and the shaft member 5 r0- motion, and this can berealized by switching or setting the lever 15 and by suitably selectingthe dampening A

1. A method of automatically changing tubes seated upon tube clampingmandrels and wherein each tube, through rotation of a member carryingthe tube clamping mandrels, is alternately brought out of a position incontact with a friction drive drum for the purpose of taking-up anendless thread delivered at a high speed and after reaching the desiredpackage size thereon the tube with its package is brought into a packagedoffing position, the improvement comprising the steps of rocking agripper in a first direction of movement out of a rest positionessentially perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube clampingmandrel carrying the tube with the package wound thereon, engaging thepackage and its tube by means of the gripper, withdrawing the engagedpackage and its tube from the tube clamping mandrel by moving thegripper in a direction away from the tube clamping mandrel andessentially in a direction which is parallel with respect to the axialdirection of the tube clamping mandrel into a predetermined position,and thereafter releasing the package and its tube by carrying out arocking movement of the gripper in a second direction of movementopposite to said first direction of movement.
 2. The method as definedin claim 1, further including the step of charging the gripper with anempty tube following depositing of the package with its tube during saidrocking movement of said gripper in said second direction of movement,moving the gripper with the empty tube into a substantially coaxialposition with respect to the tube clamping mandrel, displacing thegripper together with the empty tube substantially axially towards thetube clamping mandrel, pushing the tube onto the tube clamping mandrel,and thereafter again rocking the gripper back into its rest position. 3.A winding apparatus comprising a friction drive drum for driving tubesonto which are wound thread packages and which tubes can be alternatelyplaced into contact with the friction drive drum, a respective brakableand releasable tube supporting mandrel upon which there can be mountedeach of said tubes, a rotatable and arrestable member for alternatelybringing the tubes into a thread wind-up position and into a threadpackage doffing position and an empty tube loading position,respectively, an unloading and loading mechanism for unloading thethread packages and loading an empty tube cooperating with said tubesupporting mandrels, said unloading and loading mechanism comprising agripper, means including a rotatably mounted shaft for supporting saidgripper, said shaft extending substantially parallel to the axis of thethread package wound on a tube supported by one of said mandrels, meansfor receiving the wound thread packages, means for delivering emptytubes, said gripper being carried by said supporting means for movementin the axial direction of said shaft and pivotable together with saidshaft, drive means for rotating said shaft and drive means fordisplacing said gripper in the axial direction of the shaft for engagingand withdrawing a wound thread package and its tube from its associatedtube supporting mandrel and depositing such wound package and tube atsaid means for receiving the wound thread packages and for also engagingan empty tube from said means for delivering empty tubes and fordisplacing such empty tube onto the tube supporting mandrel from whichthe package was previously removed.
 4. The winding apparatus as definedin claim 3, wherein said gripper includes a pair of shoe means forengaging the tubes.
 5. The winding apparatus as defined in claim 4,wherein said means for receiving the wound thread packages deposited bysaid gripper comprises rail means, said rail means incorporatingtiltable rail section means, said rail means being arranged above saidmeans for delivering the empty tubes in such a manner that the shoemeans of said gripper durinG pivoting of said gripper can move past saidtiltable rail section means, to permit the gripper to be brought into aposition at the empty tubedelivering means for receiving an empty tube,whereupon said gripper can again be rotated past said tiltable railsection means and into a position where such empty tube is locatedsubstantially coaxially with respect to the tube supporting mandrel atwhich such empty tube is to be mounted.
 6. The winding apparatus asdefined in claim 3, wherein said drive means for rotating said guidemeans comprises a pivotably mounted cylinder means, said guide meanshaving an arm, said cylinder means incorporating a piston hingedlyconnected by hinge means with said arm of said guide means.
 7. Thewinding apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said drive means fordisplacing the gripper serves to axially displace said gripper andcomprises a fixedly arranged cylinder, said fixedly arranged cylinderbeing provided with a piston, an arm member carried by said piston andextending in a direction essentially perpendicular to the direction ofmovement of said piston, said gripper means being provided with anannular groove, said arm member engaging with said annular groove.
 8. athread package doffing and empty tube loading apparatus for use with atube supporting mandrel, comprising a gripper, means including arotatably mounted shaft for carrying said gripper, said shaft extendingsubstantially parallel to the axis of the thread package wound on a tubesupported by said mandrel, means for receiving the wound threadpackages, means for delivering empty tubes, said gripper being supportedby said carrying means for movement in the axial direction of said shaftand pivotable together with said shaft, drive means for rotating saidshaft and drive means for displacing said gripper in the axial directionof said shaft for engaging and withdrawing a wound thread package andits tube from the tube supporting mandrel and depositing such woundpackage and tube at said means for receiving the wound thread packageand for also engaging an empty tube from said means for delivering emptytubes and for displacing such empty tube onto the tube supportingmandrel.
 9. A method of automatically doffing a tube with a packagewound thereon seated upon a tube supporting mandrel and loading saidmandrel with an empty tube, comprising the steps of: displacing agripper in a first direction of movement out of a rest position in adirection towards the tube supporting mandrel carrying the tube with thepackage, engaging the tube by means of the gripper, moving the gripperin a direction away from the tube supporting mandrel and essentiallyparallel with respect to the axial direction of the tube supportingmandrel to thereby remove the engaged tube from the tube supportingmandrel, thereafter releasing and depositing the tube with the packageby carrying out a further movement of the gripper in a second directionof movement opposite to said first direction of movement, then chargingthe gripper with an empty tube following the releasing and depositing ofthe package with its tube during said movement of said gripper in saidsecond direction of movement, moving the gripper with the empty tubeinto a substantially coaxial position with respect to the tubesupporting mandrel, displacing the gripper together with the empty tubesubstantially axially towards the tube supporting mandrel, pushing thetube onto the tube supporting mandrel, and thereafter again moving thegripper back into its rest position.
 10. The method as defined in claim9, including the step of engaging the tube at opposite ends thereof bymeans of the gripper.